Shackle



G. B. ROBERTSON.

SHACKLE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 14. 1920.

WIT/m8? I [MENTOR .GBEqgEeTson/ 7 \\\\M 7 ATTORNEYS Patented May17,1921.

UNITED, STATES PATENT OFFICE. i

GEORGE BRYANT ROBERTSON, OF KEENE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

SHACKLE.

Specification of Letters Patent;

Patented May 1'7, 1921.

Application filed December 14, 1920. Serial No. 430,742.

commonly termed a shackle, for connecting one vehicle to another, itis'a well appreciated fact that a number of difiiculties have arisen; i

. One of .the objections in a device of this type is to be foundintheinsecure manner in which the same connects the vehicle being towedto the towing vehicle. Due to this difiiculty, it has often been the.experience of'operators to have the connection between the vehiclesbroken, resulting quite often in great damage to the vehicle being towedand the contents thereof. 7

While it is truethat certain shackles have been placednpon the marketwhich have. provided a dependable form of connection upon which reliancemight be placed, that no breaking of the connection would come intobeing, these latter devices have offered the objectionable feature thata relatively great amount of time has been necessary in operating themto firmly couple or uncouple thetwo vehicles.

A third objection peculiar to all types of shackles heretofore placedupon the market is to be attributed to the fact that a certain amount ofplay has been permitted by these members between the towing and towedvehicles.- Thus the movement of the vehicles has not been synchronizedand a certain amount of back-lash and overrunning on the part of thetowed vehicle has been observed upon the towing vehicle being started orstopped. This action is obviously detrimental to both of the vehiclesfor the reason that certain of their parts are subjected to a greatamount of strain upon this action occurring.

Having these difiiculties in mind, I have now constructed a shacklewhich shall primarily present a connecting medium peculiarly adapted forcoupling one Vehicle to another, but not necessarily limited to thisadaption, as it might readily be used for connecting any two: desiredmembers one to: the-other, and by means of which any possibility of anaccidental disconnecting of one of these elements from the second of thesame is reduced to a minimum, if not entirely precluded.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a device of thenature speci fied, the parts of whichmay be coupled to the parts withwhich theyare to engage,

with great facility, aside from the fact that this action may beeffected by certain operating means at a point relatively remote fromthe shackle itself.

A still. further object of my invention is the construction of a shacklein which all play between the parts is prevented so that the objectionsincident to this detrimental feature are avoided. j

- Another object of my invention is to be found in the provision of ashackle,'the A parts of which shall be extremely simple in construction,and economical in manufacture, and still further objects of my inventionwill appear in the annexed specification and drawings, which latterpresent one practical embodiment of my invention, and in which I Figure1 is a side elevation of a vehicle having ashackle constructed inaccordance with my inventionassociated with its draft yoke.

Fig. '2 is an enlarged fragmentary side view of the shackle asillustrated in Fig. 1, and

Fig. 3 is a partly fragmentary plan viewof the device illustrated inFigs. 1 and 2.

It will be noted in the embodiments illustrated that I have shown myinvention as applied to what is commonly known as a trailer, adapted tobe drawn by an automotive vehicle, but it will be appreciated that mydevice is applicable for coupling any driven vehicle with a driving one,or in fact, for connectin any two desired elements one to the ot er.

It will be seen, reference being had to Fig. 1, that the referencenumeral 5 indicates the wheels of a vehicle, which serve to support abody 6 of any desired character, and from which a draft yoke 7, also ofany desired character, extends.

My improved shackle includes a base member 8 of any convenientconstruction,

according to the nature of the vehicle or p appliance With which it isassociated, and a fixed jaw 9 is firmly secured to the outer end of themember 8 and extends downwardly therefrom in the form illustrated. Thisjaw serves as the draft portion of the shackle and is shown as engagedand encircled by a ring-bolt 10, connected to the towing vehicle.

To now provide means serving to retain the ring bolt in its properposition, a second jaw 11 is swingingly secured as at 12 to the member 8and at a point at whichits outer end is capable of engaging the face ofthe jaw 9. A shoulder 13 forms a part of the jaw 11 and has a rod 14rockingly secured to it as at 15. Thus, upon the rod 14 being projectedthe jaw 11 will be moved to the position shown in the drawings, atwhich, it will be noted, the ring bolt 10 is firmly interposed betweenthe jaw 9, member 8 and jaw 11.

Now with a view of providing means serving to firmly retain the parts inthis position, I utilize a compression spring 16, which latter isarranged along the rod 14 and has one of its ends bearing against thejaw 11, its second end contacting with a suit able stop 17 secured tothe member 8, and through which the rod 14: may slidably'extend. Thus itwill be obvious that the parts will be firmly retained in the positionillustrated in the drawings, and any movement on the part of the ringbolt with respect to the shackle will be precluded so that theobjections incident to play will be eliminated.

An operating lever 18 positioned at any desired point upon the draftyoke 7 has one of its ends pivotally secured as at 19 to the same, itsopposite end conveniently extending through and beyond a guide 20, alsofixed to the draft yoke 7 A link 21 is interposed between the inner endof the rod 14 and the body of the lever 18, and has its ends pivotallysecured one to each of these members.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that a retraction on the partof the lever 18 will result in a pull being exerted upon the rod 14:,thus moving the jaw 11 against the tension of a an instant uncoupling ofthe ring bolt 10, so that any lengthy manipulation of the parts incidentto this operation is avoided.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided a shackle in which any dangerof the parts becoming disconnected is eliminated. Also any play betweenthe parts of the connection is precluded aside from the fact that alengthy operation of the parts to effect a coupling and uncoupling isalso overcome.

Obviously numerous modifications of structure might readily be resortedto without in the least departing from the scope of my claims, whichare-- 1; A shackle, including a base member, a fixed jaw secured to saidmember, a second jaw swingingly secured to said base member and adjacentsaid first named jaw, said second jaw being formedwith a shoulder,'a rodhaving one of its ends pivotally secured to such shoulder, a stop, and aspring having one of its ends cooperating with said shoulder, itsopposite end. bearing against said stop.

2. A shackle, including a jaw, a second jaw swingingly secured withrespect to said first-named jaw, a rod having one of its ends pivotallyattached to said second jaw, a lever having one of its ends pivotallysecured to a relatively fixed point, and a link interposed between andhaving its ends pivotally attached to said lever and rod.

GEORGE BRYANT ROBERTSON.

